The Influence of Process Acceptance on BPM: An Empirical Investigation

Business processes and the management thereof can create value for companies. This expected contribution of BPM may only unfold if the processes are executed as designed. The execution in itself is dependant on an initial process trigger. A decision not to trigger the business process or to modify it during execution depends on the subject´s process acceptance. It is thus self-evident that ill accepted processes impact the efforts to standardize processes negatively. This paper investigates factors which influence process acceptance throughout the entire life cycle. A cycle that includes the creation, implementation, execution, and control of business processes. 21 in-depth expert interviews are used to identify these factors. Results indicate that process acceptance is formed by the organizational context, the process (model) itself, and the involved subjects. This implies a necessity of understanding social mechanisms, which influence process acceptance, in the process design phase. Especially process model properties such as fail-safe and feedback mechanisms, perceived process length, number of participants, and resource constraints are found to influence process acceptance. Further findings and insights presented in this paper should be considered during process modelling to archive higher process acceptance among relevant stakeholders.